Bionic Eye Could Help Cure Blindness

By Amanda Last edited 191 months ago
Bionic Eye Could Help Cure Blindness
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It sounds a bit like something out of sci-fi TV show, but the clever folks at Moorfields Eye Hospital have dreamed up a bionic eye and implanted it in their first two patients. The artificial eye, called Argus II, is implanted and attached to the retina, which feeds to a camera on a pair of glasses. This will hopefully help restore basic sight to those that have lost it because of a hereditary illness.

Some 20,000-25,000 Britons are afflicted by the disease that is diagnosed in childhood which leads to the deterioration of the vision. It is hoped that the bionic eye will at least allow patients to see dark and light outlines (like we said, basic). It's still too early to determine how the two men who've received the implants are progressing, but the docs at Moorfields are optimistic.

The eye was developed by Second Sight in the US, however it has not been disclosed if the eye costs $6 million.

Photo of non-bionic eye from feastoffools Flickrstream

Last Updated 22 April 2008